A Shining Light of Hope
by Peach the Hedgehog
Summary: Paula waited within that dark cottage for someone. She had called out to him, hoping that he would come and save her. But the wait felt so long. Would he ever come?


Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Earthbound.

**AN: I never thought I would write an Earthbound fic before. But lately, I've been thinking a lot about the Mother series. I got inspired to write this thanks to starmennet on Youtube. It was just a small piece of the video, but it was enough to inspire this oneshot. **

I sat with my back pressed against the wooden wall, peeking through the bars of my cell. It was so dark there; I could barely see anything in front of me. The only sounds I heard, other than birds, was water running somewhere off in the distance. Maybe it was a waterfall, but it's really hard to tell.

All I can do right now is sit and wait, hoping for Ness to show. In truth, I only knew this boy from my dreams, which seemed to say that Ness was my destiny. Strange, I know. But yet, even though I've never seen him face to face, I trusted him. I knew he would come to save me.

Every night, I would pray and call out to Ness, hoping that he would hear me. Sometimes, I felt like my words were being swallowed by the darkness surrounding me. But, I just had to keep on trying! Either I had to believe in Ness, or I would have to find a way to get out on my own. The chances were small, but I could do it, right?

I sighed to myself and shook my head. If I could bust out on my own, why was I trying to put so much faith in a boy I'd never met before? I mean, I knew he had the power within him to save the world, and that could be a reason to trust him. But, as far as I knew, he had never been caught, like I had.

I looked over to my right, and noticed my teddy bear. Other than my Franklin Badge, it's the only thing I had with me. I reached out to the stuffed toy and pulled it close to me, holding it between my arms. I guess I hoped that, if I did this, I would feel less lonely... less scared.

_"Oh, Ness..., please hurry! I know I've never met you before, and you have never seen me. But, I believe in you, Ness!"_

With those thoughts, I couldn't help shaking my head once again. What if Ness couldn't hear me like I thought he could? What if he wasn't coming at all? What would I do then?

Using one hand, I pushed myself to my feet. I felt a few shivers going down my spine. I tried to control them by thinking of the many ways I could try and escape. I did that just in case Ness didn't come to my rescue.

It's then I heard the sound of the door creaking open and I could see some light coming through. Not used to the light, I held up one hand to shield my eyes. Standing there appeared to be a kind looking young man, wearing a yellow and blue striped shirt, blue shorts and a red baseball cap. He was smiling at me kindly, and he had a look of concern on his face.

"Hello. You are Paula, right? I heard you calling me. My name is Ness. Are you okay?"

It was then that the despair that I'd felt in my heart changed to hope. He had heard my cries after all and came to help me! I smiled, smoothed my pink dress a little bit and told him how I knew he would come to save me. I wanted to say that I never doubted him, but I didn't. Even though I was sure he would come to my rescue, I was just so scared, nervous and lonely.

I knew I hadn't been saved just yet, however. Ness needed the key to my cell in order to break me out. Knowing that Mr. Carpainter, the one who had the key, could control lightning, I gave him my Franklin Badge. This badge would protect him from the lightning strikes.

I put on my best smile as I gazed into Ness' eyes. "Don't worry about me, Ness. I'll be fine! Just kick butt like I know you can!"

Ness grinned back at me, but I could still see a flicker of concern in his eyes. He turned and left the little cottage, closing the door behind him, leaving me in the dark once again.

Honestly, I was still a little nervous, but I knew that Ness was meant to save the world. I knew that he could win the fight, and that he would finally get me out of here. But, until then, I just had to wait a little longer, trapped within the walls of this dark cottage.


End file.
